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T        O   i 


PAMPHLET    A. 


THE  MUNSON  METHOD 


B.  0.  BAKER 
f>AUAS.  TJEIAII 


pOWE((  TYpE-GOMpO^ITIOfl. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  METHOD  AND  ITS  MACHINES,  AND  OF 
THE  MANNER  IN  WHICH  THE  MACHINES  ARE  OPERATED 
IN  PRACTICE;  ALSO  A  STATEMENT  OF  THE  KINDS  OF 
TYPE-COMPOSITION  THAT  THE  METHOD  CAN  DO,  WITH 
CAREFULLY  PREPARED  ESTIMATES  OF  THE  COST  OF  ITS 
WORK. 


NEW    YORK: 

ja>j:es    e.    Mi:xsox, 

TRIBUNE    BUILDING. 
IS  91. 


A, 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

The  Munson  Method  of  Pow  eh  Type-composition 5 

Other  Type-.-;etting  ok  Composing  Machines 5 

Machines  Used  in  Poweu-com position 6 

Parts  that  are  Common  to  all  Machines 7 

The  Ml'nson  Power  TYPE-SETTiN(i  Machine 8 

The  Munson  "  Compositor's  Machine  " 9 

How  the  "  Compositors  Machine  "  is  Operated 9 

The  Kibbon  and  How  it  Looks 10 

Not  Necessary  to  be  Able  to  Read  the  Ribbon 11 

Printer's  Corrections  ]Madc  in  tlie  Type 11 

Printer's  Corrections  Made  in  the  Ribbon 12 

Type  Used  avith  the  Munson  Machines 12 

Recent  Improvements  in  the  Method 12 

Composition  Done  by  the  Power  Method     12 

Machines  for  Two  Sizes  of  Type 13 

The  MiNSON  Power  Type-distributor 13 

Speed  of  ^Iaciiine  Composition  14 

Speed  of  Keyboard  Composing  Machines 14 

Speed  of  the  Munson  Power  Type-setting  Machine 14 

Cost  of  Composition  by  the  Munson  Method 17 

Cost  per  1,000  Ems 17 

Details  of  the  Calculations 17 

Increased  Amount  of  Work  to  be  Done 18 

Reproducing  the  Ribbon  by  Telegraph 20 

Application  of  Method  to  Neavspaper  Work 21 

Ribbon  Received  by  Telegraph 25 

Application  of  Method  to  Book  Work 2.") 

It  Fits  the  New  Copyright  Law  Exactly 26 

Application  to  Stenographers'  Work 27 

United  States  and  Foreign  Patents 28 


448334 


THE  MUNSON  METHOD  OF  POWER  TYPE-COMPOSITION. 


The  Miinson  Method  of  Power  Type  Composition  has  recently 
been  greatly  simplified  and  impi-oved  by  the  inventor,  removing 
from  it  all  of  the  features  that  had  been  criticised  or  excepted  to 
by  any  of  the  practical  printers  who  had  examined  it ;  so  that  he 
feels  assured  that,  in  its  present  shape,  it  will  prove  to  be  A 
PERFECT  SOLUTION  of  the  problem  of  economical  machine 
composition  which  is  now  receiving  so  much  notice,  both  from 
those  who  are  in  the  l)usiness  of  printing,  and  from  the  public 
at  large. 

The  special  attention  of  printers  is,  therefore,  again  respect- 
fully asked  by  Mr.  Munson  to  his  typographic  inventions,  as 
they  now  stand,  and  as  tiiey  are  here  brietly  described. 

OTHER  TYPE-SETTING  OR  COMPOSING  MACHINES. 

All  type-setting  or  composing  machines,  of  whatever  character 
or  description,  that  have  hitherto  been  made  and  offered  to  the 
public,  have  been  limited  in  their  capacity  for  work  by  the  ability 
of  the  operator.  However  good  a  machine  may  have  been  ;  what- 
ever its  mechanical  capacity  for  speed  might  be;  whether  it  could 
do  six,  eight,  ten  or  even  twelve  tliousand  ems  an  hour  ;  in  actual 
practice  it  always  fell  far  below  th'it  s])eed,  for  the  i-eason  that  the 
operator  could  not  make  it  do  more  work  than  a  comparatively 
small  part  of  its  ultimate  capacity,  the  amount  varying  according 
to  his  skill  or  diligence  or  1)oth. 

The  average  rate  at  which  skilled  operators,  working  from 
ordinary  "copy,"  can  manipulate  a  keyboard  composing-machine 
of  any  kind,  for  any  length  of  time,  is  not  greater  than  4,000  ems 
an  hour.  Occasionally  an  exceptionally  expert  operator  may  be 
found  who  will  exceed  that  amount.     P>ut  there  are  manv  others 


who  can  never  reach  even  that  figure.  The  consequence  is  that 
from  one-lialf  to  three-quarters  of  the  capacity  of  a  well  con- 
structed machine  remains  idle. 

The  object  of  Mr.  Munson's  inventions  is  to  overcome  this 
radical  defect  in  tvpe-setting  machinery  and  to  make  it  possible 
always  to  work  it  up  to  its  absolute  maximum  speed. 

MACHINES  USED  IN  POWER  COMPOSITION. 

The  machines  used  in  connection  with  Mr.  Munson's  Method 
of  Power  Type  Composition  are  of  three  kinds  ;  namely, 

First — A  Preparatory  Perforating  Machine. 

Second — A  Type-setting  Machine. 

Third — A  Type-distributing  machine. 

The  preparatory  perforating  machine  is  a  small,  cheaply  con- 
structed and  very  snnple  affair.  It  is  provided  with  a  keyboard 
that  can  be  worked  by  any  typewriter  operator,  at  any  time  or 
in  any  place,  and  the  result  (a  strip  of  perforated  paper)  can 
afterwards  be  used  to  operate  the  type-setting  machine  ;  so  that, 
by  this  plan,  two,  three  or  possibly  more  persons,  can  be  em- 
ployed simultaneously  in  keej^ing  one  type-setting  machine  con- 
stantly at  work. 

The  type-setting  machine  is  a  simply  constructed  piece  of 
mechanism,  resembling  several  other  type-setting  machines,  except 
that  it  is  worked  automatically  and  not  by  means  of  a  keyboard. 

The  type-distributor  is  entirely  automatic  in  its  action. 

The  ordinary  price  at  which  type-setting  machines  have  here- 
tofore been  sold  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  $3,000  apiece  ;  and  their 
average  production  has  never  been  more  than  thirty-five  or  forty 
thousand  ems  a  day.  A  complete  working  set  of  Mr.  Munson's 
type-setting  machines  can  be  afforded  for  that  sum,  or  even  for 
less,  and  their  capacity  will  1)3  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty  five  thousand  ems  a  day.  This  will  reduce  the  cost  of 
composition  to  about  nine  cents  a  thousand  ems,  wdiere  labor  is 
paid  as  highly  as  it  is  in  tiie  City  of  New  York,  and  to  about  six 
cents  a  thousand  ems,  where  it  is  paid  as  it  is  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts of  say  New  England  or  Ohio. 

Each  of  these  machines  is  very  simply  constructed  ;  is  not 
liable  to  derangement;  is  strong  in  the  parts  where  wear  is  likely 


t(»  occur,  iiiul  ix'(|uires  no  ])articiilar  skill  on  tlie  part  of  the  operator 
or  iiiaehinist.  Should  any  part  break  it  can  be  remedied  by  any 
competent  iron-worker  in  the  nci<i,-hborhood. 

PARTS  THAT  ARE  COMMON  TO  ALL  MACHIXES. 

The  following  brief  statement  in  reuard  to  the  construction 
of  type-settitiiij  machines  will  aid  in  getting  a  better  understand- 
ing of  the  dilference  between  ordinary  keyboard  machines  and 
the  power  type-setting  machine  of  Mr.  Munson. 

A  type-setting  machine  is  a  machine  by  means  of  which 
types  are  set  in  line,  in  proper  order,  so  as  to  form  words  and 
sentences  to  correspond  with  the  matter  contained  in  the  "copy."' 

The  essential  })arts  of  every  such  machine,  whether  operated 
l)y  hand  or  otherwise,  are  the  following: 

L  A  series  of  type-reservoirs,  each  of  which  is  assigned  to  the 
exclusive  storage  of  some  particular  letter,  point,  space  or  other 
type,  of  the  machine's  font.  There  are  as  many  type -reservoirs 
as  there  are  different  types  or  "  sorts "  in  the  font.  In  each 
reservoir  the  ty]3es  are  arranged  one  against  the  other,  with  their 
face  ends  all  pointing  one  way  and  their  bodies  all  the  same  side 
up — that  is,  with  their  nicks  always  turned  in  the  same  direction. 
In  some  machines  the  types  are  placed,  just  as  they  come  from 
the  foundry,  with  their  faces  side  by  side ;  thus, 

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and  in  others  they  are  arranged  upward  and  downward  of  the 
faces  ;  thus. 


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II.  A  series  of  type-'pushers,  one  of  which  is  located  at  the 
outlet  of  each  of  the  type-reservoirs,  with  which  a  single  type 
may  be  ejected  at  will  fi-om  any  ])articular  reservoir. 

III.  Means  for  conveying  such  ejected  types,  one  after 
another,  in  the  order  of  their  ejection  from  the  reservoirs,  to  the 
forming  point  of  the  line  of  type,  where,  as  has  been  mentioned, 
thev  are  arrani>-ed  in  woi'ds  and  sentences. 


8 

lY.  A  "  stick  "  or  narrow  channel  in  which  such  line  of  type 
is  formed,  held  in  shape,  and  moved  along  to  make  room  for 
other  types  as  they  come  from  the  reservoirs  to  the  line. 

!Now,  it  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  statement  that  the  real, 
practical  speed  at  which  type  may  be  set  by  any  machine  depends 
in  the  first  place  npon  the  rapidity  with  which  the  type-pnshers 
are  made  to  do  their  work.  It  has  been  found  that  the  average 
number  of  types — letters,  spaces,  quads,  etc. — in  a  thousand  ems, 
is  2,180  (Lynch's  Printer's  Manual,  p.  63).  Hence,  in  setting 
type  with  a  machine  at  the  rate  of  1,000  ems  an  hour,  an  average 
of  363  type-pushers  must  be  operated  a  minute.  So,  in  setting 
at  the  rate  of  3,000  ems  an  hour,  109  type-pushers  would  be 
called  into  play  every  minute.  And,  generally,  the  multiplying 
of  365  by  any  number  of  thousand  ems  per  hour  will  give  the 
number  of  type-pusher  actions  that  are  required  each  minute  to 
do  that  amount  of  work.  Thus,  discarding  fractions,  we  have  the 
following  results  :  2,000  ems  an  hour  require  7S  type-pusher  ac- 
tions a  minute  ;  4,000  ems,  lie  actions ;  5,000,  182  ;  6,000,  218  ; 
7,000,255;  8,000,291;  9,000,  327;  10,000,  363;  11,000,  400;. 
12,000,  436  ;  13,000,  472  ;  14,000,  509  ;  15,000,  545. 

These  figures  show  in  a  striking  manner  how  very  far  the 
human  operator,  with  his  physical  limit  of  146  types  set  in  a 
minute,  or  of  4,000  ems  an  hour,  must  of  necessity  always  fall 
short  in  getting  the  full  amount  of  work  from  properly  con- 
structed type-setting  mechanism  of  which  it  is  capable.  Nothing 
but  "  POWEK"  can  possibly  do  it.  And  Mr.  Muneon  has  suc- 
ceeded in  aj^plying  Power  to  type-setting,  just  as  effectually  as 
Jacquard  applied  it  to  figure-weaving,  when  he  invented  the 
loom  which  bears  his  name,  nearly  a  century  ago,  and  set  it  to 
work  to  do  weaving  that  had  previously  been  done  by  hand- 
looms. 

THE   MUNSON    POWER    TYPE-SP:TTING    MACHINE. 

The  Munson  Power  Type-Setting  Machine  differs  from  all 
other  type-setting  or  composing  machines  in  that  IT  IS  OPER- 
ATED p:ntii{ely  by  mechanical  power. 

That  is,  it  has  no  keyboard,  and  requires  no  one  to  aid  it 
mainially  in  doing  its  work,  as  it  is  controlled  in   its  operation 


9 

by  perforations  in  a  rihhoii  or  narrow  strij)  of  paper,  and   not  by 
the  fingers  of  a  Iniinan  operatoi-. 

AUTOMATICAIJ.V  it  does  the  following  tliiiiirs  : 

1.  It  sets  matter  in  a  long,  continuous  line  ut  type,  this 
line  consisting  of  a  succession  of  separated  short  lines,  each  of 
which  has  the  requisite  length  and  the  proper  terminal  division 
to  make  it,  when  spaced  and  justified,  a  correct  and  suitable 
column  line. 

2.  It  spaces  evenly  and  justifies  with  exactness  each  of  such 
column-lines,  and  then  deposits  it  with  the  column  of  type  on 
the  galley. 

3.  When  matter  is  recjuired  to  be  leaded,  it  inserts  leads 
between  the  lines  of  type  as  they  are  moved  on  to  the  galley. 

THE  MU^^SON  "COMPOSITOR'S  MACHINE." 

The  pei'forations  in  the  ribbon  of  paper  are  made  on  what  is 
called  the  "  Compositor's  Machine,"  by  means  of  a  set  of  steel 
punches,  that  are  operated  in  connection  with  a  keyboard,  in 
which  there  is  a  separate  and  properly  labeled  key  for  each  type 
of  all  the  "  sorts"  used  in  the  type-setting  machine. 

The  keys  of  the  "  Comi)ositor's  Machine  "  are  made  inter- 
changeable, so  that,  at  the  option  of  the  operator,  they  may  be 
arranged  substantially  like  those  of  any  one  of  the  various  type- 
writing machines  in  use.  For  this  reason  thei'e  never  can  be  any 
difficulty  in  securing  tiie  services  of  skilled  operators  on  the 
"  Compositor's  Machine." 

Anotlier  very  important  consideration  is  that  this  "  Compos- 
itor's Machine  "  is  a  very  inexpensive  one,  costing  less  to  build 
than  a  Remington  or  a  Caligraph  writing-machine. 

How  TUE    "  CoMPOSITOU's  MaCHINE  "    IS  OPERATED. 

The  operator  of  the  ''Compositor's  Machine  "  sits  at  the  key- 
board with  his  ''  copy  "  before  him,  and  proceeds  almost  pre- 
cisely as  if  he  were  o])erating  a  type-wa*iter  or  caligraph ;  but 
the  results  obtained,  instead  of  being  type-wu'itten  letters,  are 
merely  a  series  of  transverse  rows  of  perforations  in  a  ribbon  of 
papei'. 


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To  each  letter,  point,  tigure,  space,  quadrat,  etc.,  is  assigned  a 
particular  row  of  perforations  in  the  riljl)on  ;  the  rows  being  made 
to  differ  from  one  another  bv  changes  in  the  combinations  of 
their  perforations.  The  operator  lias  onlv  to  see  tliat  he  depresses 
the  proper  keys,  in  their  right  order,  the  machine  itself  taking 
care  of  the  combinations  and  insuring  the  correct  perforation  of 
the  ribbon. 

The  operator  determines  as  he  goes  along  where  each  column- 
line  of  type  shall  end,  in  substantially  the  same  way  that  a  type- 
writer operator  decides  where  each  line  of  typewriting  shall  end. 
That  is,  he  is  guided  by  an  index  moving  along  a  graduated  scale, 
and  also  by  the  sound  of  a  bell  that  is  struck  automatically  a  little 
before  the  end  of  the  line  is  reached  ;  just  as  the  typewriter 
operator  is  guided  by  the  "  carriage  scale,"  index  and  bell  of  that 
machine.  When  the  end  of  a  column-line  is  thus  fixed  upon  by 
the  operator,  (whether  the  division  comes  after  a  word,  after  a 
hyphen  dividing  a  word  or  after  a  point,  figure  or  other  charac- 
ter), he  marks  the  terminus  of  the  line  by  touching  a  key  that 
causes  to  be  inserted  at  that  point  in  the  ribbon  a  row  of  per- 
forations that  represents  a  peculiar  type,  called  the  "line-divider." 
He  then  pi-oceeds  in  like  manner  to  compose  the  next  line. 

THE   KIBBON   AND   HOW   IT   LOOKS. 

The  following  illustration  shows  how  words  and  spaces  are 
indicated  by  perforations  in  the  ribbon.  The  line  of  letters  and 
raised  spaces  immediately  below  the  cut  furnishes  a  key  to  each 
letter  and  space  represented  in  it. 


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11 

The  c*uui]j()siti(iii  of  mutter  is  indieated  Ijy  the  hirge  holes, 
each  conibiiiatioii  of  wliich,  taken  crosswise  of  tlie  ril)bon,  rep- 
resents some  particular  letter,  space  or  other  type,  and  will  cause 
that  type  to  be  set  in  line  by  the  ty]>e-settin<^  machine.  There 
are  ten  different  points  across  the  ribbon  where  a  hole  may 
occur ;  and  the  ten  holes  that  may  be  inserted  at  those  points  are 
numbered  from  the  upper  ed<j:e  of  the  ribbon  downward,  one  to 
ten  respectively.  All  the  holes  of  a  combination,  whether  there 
be  one,  two,  three  or  more,  in  doing  their  work  of  settino;  a  type, 
act  simultaneously.  Thus,  the  combination  of  holes  2  and  5, 
acting  together,  will  set  the  letter  t ;  holes  2  and  7,  the  letter  h  ; 
2  and  3,  the  letter  e,  and  the  single  hole  10,  the  "  thick  "  space. 

The  longitudinal  row  of  small  holes  along  the  middle  of  the 
ribbon  is  called  the  "'  feed-row."  Actiuii;  in  connecti(»n  with 
sprockets  on  a  ratchet-wheel  it  causes  the  perforated  riblton  to 
move  through  the  automatic  selecting  mechanism  of  the  tyi)e- 
setting  machine  with  the  utmost  regularity  ajid  precision. 

When  desirable  the  different  "  takes "  of  perforated  ribbon 
prepared  by  several  compositor.*  may  be  pasted  together  and  fed 
into  the  tv])e-setting  machine  as  one  continuous  ribbon. 

The  ribbon  is  pi'e[)ared  in  the  same  way  for  all  sizes  of  type. 
That  is,  a  ribbon  that  will  set  brevier,  will  also  set  either  pica  or 
agate,  or  any  other  size  of  type.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  com- 
position for  any  and  all  sizes  of  type  may  be  done  on  one  "  Com- 
positor's Machine." 

XoT  Necessary  to  bk  Able  to  Read  the  Kibbon. 
It  is  not  recpdred  that  the  operator  of  the  "  Com])ositors 
Machine."  or,  in  fact,  that  any  of  the  employees  about  the 
machines,  shall  be  able  to  read  the  perforations  in  the  paper,  as 
the  ribbon,  just  as  it  comes  from  the '•  Compositor's  Machine," 
without  alteration  or  change,  may  be  used  to  operate  the  type- 
setter. The  ribbon  becomes,  as  it  were,  a  part  of  the  type-setting 
mechanism. 

Printer's  Corrections  Made  in  the  Type. 
Proofs  may  be  pulled  from  the  column  of  type,  after  it  is  set 
by  the  machine,  and  then  read  with  "copy,"  in  the  ordinary 
way,  and  correction  of  errors  made  in  the  metal. 


12 

Pkixtek's  Corrections  Made  in  the  Ribbon. 

At  the  same  time,  if  the  printer  should  prefer  to  do  so,, 
the  perforations  in  the  ribbon  may  be  read  with  "copv."  and  all 
corrections  be  first  noted  on  and  afterwards  made  l)y  additional 
perforations  in  the  ribbon. 

TYPE  USED  WITH  THE  MUNSON  MACHINES. 

The  type  used  with  the  Mnnson  Power  Machines  is  the  ordi- 
nary type  made  and  sold  by  all  type-founders. 

RECENT   IMPROVEMENTS   IN   THE   METHOD. 

In  the  Munson  inathod  of  type-setting,  as  it  has  been  hereto- 
fore publicly  exhibited, 'the  work  of  reading  with  "copy,"  of 
making  printer's  cori'ections,  and  of  spacing  and  justifying  the 
lines,  was  of  necessity  done  in  connection  with  the  ribbon  ;  and 
hence  it  was  indispensable  that  the  workmen  should  be  able  to 
readily  decipher  the  perforations  in  the  ribbon  ;  also  that  unit- 
body  type,  that  is,  type  similar  to  the  "  self-spacing ''  type  of 
Benton,  Waldo  &  Co.,  of  Milwaukee,  should  l)e  used. 

But  now  that  the  type-setting  machine  itself  will  mechanic- 
ally do  the  justifying,  and  that  all  corrections  may  be  made  in 
the  types  on  the  galley  or  stone,  it  is  no  longer  necessary  that 
any  of  the  operatives  shall  learn  to  read  the  coaiposition  on 
the  ril)bon,  or  that  type  of  a  special  make  or  peculiar  body 
shall  be  employed. 

In  fact,  it  is  believed  that  the  method  is  now  absolutely 
pejfect.  That  improvements  in  mechanisui  will  from  time  to 
time  be  made,  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  l)ut  the  manner  of  doing 
the  work  is  already  as  simple  as  it  ever  can  be  made.  That  is  to 
■say,  whereas  formerly  three  machines  were  required  in  preparing 
the  ribbon  for  use  in  o|)eratiug  the  type-setter — two  automatic 
]')erforators  besides  the  keyboard  macliine — now  the  entire  work 
of  pertoration  is  doue  on  one,  namely,  the  com])ositor's  machine. 

COMPCJSJTION  DONE  BY  THE   POWER  METHOD. 

The  power  method  of  type-setting  is  particularly  well  adapted 
to  any  oivlinarv,  plain  composition  ;  that  is,  work  which  docs  not 
call  tor  a  variety  of  sizes  of  type. 


13 

Any  kind  of  tabular  or  colimiii-work  may  also  be  done  bj  it 
with  niucli  gr(;ater  facility,  and  with  more  exactness  than  by 
hand,  unless  the  hand-compositor  best(j\vs  an  unusual  amount  of 
care  upon  his  work.  Successive  columns  of  tii^-ures,  such  as  are 
found  in  the  financial  and  market  rejjorts  of  newspapers,  present 
no  obstacles  whatever  to  the  method,  and  may  be  composed  on 
the  ribbon  almost  with  the  rapidity  of  i)lain  matter.  The  type- 
setting- machine  will,  of  course,  set  the  tyj^es  of  such  matter  with 
the  same  speed  that  it  will  do  })lain  work. 

MACHINES   FOR  TWO  SIZES  OF  TYPE. 

Machines  may  be  nuule  that  Avill  set  two  sizes  of  type,  as  for 
instance  brevier  and  nonpareil,  clianging  from  one  ty])e  to  the 
other  at  the  will  of  the  compositor,  as  expressed  in  the  ribbon. 

Such  machines  v>ill.  therefore,  be  found  useful  in  setting  matter 
in  which  there  is  an  occasional  quotation  or  citation,  wliicli 
requires  a  smaller  type  than  the  regular  size. 

THE  MUNSON  POWER    TYPE-DISTRIBUTOR. 

The  Munson  Power  Type-Distributor,  when  completed,  will 
be  greatly  superior  to  any  that  has  yet  been  constructed.  Its 
main  features  will  be  as  follows  : 

It  will  be  entirely  automatic.  That  is,  it  will  not  require  the 
*'  dead  "  matter  for  distribution  to  be  fed  into  it  by  hand,  line 
after  line  and  one  line  at  a  time,  as  is  the  case  with  some  distrib- 
uting machines ;  but  a  whole  page  or  column  of  type  may  be 
placed  on  its  table  and  the  machine  itself  will  do  the  rest.  It 
will  separate  the  foremost  line  of  type  from  the  others,  and  then 
pick  off  each  individual  type  in  that  line  and  place  it  in  its 
proper  reservoir,  ])utting  all  the  a's  in  the  a-reservoir,  all  the  b's 
in  the  b-reservoir,  all  the  M's  in  the  M-reservoir,  all  the  commas 
in  the  connna-reserv(_)ir,  and  so  on  until  the  entire  page  or  column 
is  distributed  into  type-reservoirs,  ready  to  be  placed  in  the  type- 
setter again.  The  machine  will  do  all  this  work  with  great 
rapidity,  and  yet  so  gently  that  no  type  M'ill  be  broken  or  in  any 
wav  disfigured. 


14 
SPEED  OF  MACHINE  COMPOSITION. 

SPEED    OF    KEYBOARD    COMPOSING    MACHINES. 

The  maxiniiim  speed-capacit}"  of  an}'  machine  that  is  operated 
by  hand  through  a  keyboard,  is  not  determined   by  its  inherent 
or  mechanical  speed-possibilities,  nor  by  the  amount  of  work  that 
specially  skilled  operalors  can  do  npon  it.     But  it   is  determined 
and  limited  by  the  amount  of  work  that  the  average  operator  is 
able  to  perform  upon  it  in  a  given  space  of  time.     In  other 
words,  to   a  printer  who  uses  keyboard  type-setting  machines, 
the  real  speed-capacity  of  a  machine  is  identical  with  the  average 
speed  of  all  the  keyboard  operators  in  his  employ.    For  instance^ 
if  he  has  seven  machines  worked  by  seven   keyboard  operators, 
and  those  operators  average  per  hour,   respectively,  say  3,500, 
3,400,   3;350,   3,150,   3,000,  2,950  and   2,850  ems,   the  practical 
working  capacity  of  the  machine  is  not  3,500  ems,  but  it  is  the 
result    obtained    by   dividing   the    sum   of  all  these  amounts  by 
seven,  viz.,  3,164  ems  per  hour.     And  this  would  be  true  even  if 
each  of  the  machines  had  an  inherent  capacity  of  12,000  ems  an, 
hour,  in  which  ease  nearly  9,000  ems  an  hour  of  its  possible  speed 
would  be  absolutely  unavailable,  and,  therefore,  entirely  lost. 

Speed  of  the  Munson  Power  Type-Setting  Machine. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Munson  Power  Type-setting  Machine, 
being  operated  solely  l)y  steam  or  other  ]:>ower,  may  be  run  con- 
tinuously and  uniformly  at  very  near  the  top  of  its  iidierent  or 
mechanical  speed-capacity,  only  a  small  "  margin  of  safety " 
beipg  allowed  olf  from  its  utmost  capacity. 

Now,  what  is  the  real  or  available  speed-capacity  of  the  Mun- 
son Power  Type-setting  Machine  ?  It  may  be  easily  ascertained 
and  with  exactness,  by  considering  the  following  facts : 

1.  The  riblton  with  its  perforations,  being  substituted  for  the 
mind  and  lingers  of  the  operator  of  a  keyboard  machine,  selects 
the  types  to  be  composed,  in  proper  order,  and  causes  them  to  be 
set  in  line,  with  a  speed  that  is  unlimited  save  by  mechanical 
considerations. 

2.  The  automatic  mechanism  that  is  operated  hy  means  of 
the  ribbon  corresponds  with  and  takes  the  place  of  the  keyboard 
and  its  attachments  with  which  the  ty})es  are  set. 


15 

3.  A  type  is  set  at  each  revolution  of  a  small  shaft  in  the  ma- 
chine. This  shaft  is  scarcely  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  it  takes 
so  little  ])o\ver  to  revolve  it  that  it  may  be  easily  tui-ned  hetwet-ir 
the  thumb  and  finti:;er. 

■Jr.  0])erated  with  ])<)\ver  the  shaft  has  ah'eady  been  run  at 
the  rate  of  500  revolutions  a  minute,  and  at  the  same  time  it  did 
its  work  perfectly. 

0.  As  has  been  already  stated,  the  average  number  of  types 
in  a  thousand  ems  is  2,180. 

SrMMAKY — 500  X  r»0=:,30,000  (nunil)erof  types  set  in  an  houi-i : 
80,0OO-^ 2, 180  =  13, 761  (number  of  ems  set  in  an  hour). 

That  is  to  say,  Mr.  Munson's  very  fii-st  attempt  to  build 
flutonuitic  mechanism  with  M'hich  to  set  type,  resulted  in  a 
machine  that  has  been  successfully  run,  by  means  of  the  per- 
forated ribbon,  at  a  speed  of  nearly  14,000  ems  an  hour. 

But,  in  making  the  estimates  of  cost  contained  in  this  state- 
ment, only  303  types  a  minute,  or  10,000  ems  an  hour,  liaA^e  been 
allowed  as  the  capacit}-  of  the  machine. 

At  the  same  time,  in  view  of  these  calculations,  and  of  what 
has  already  been  accomplished,  there  is  no  doubt  that,  in  the  near 
future,  a  machine  will  be  constructed,  according-  to  the  Munson 
method,  that  will  set  without  fault  at  least  15,000  ems  an  hoiir. 
In  order  to  attain  such  a  result  as  that,  it  nuiy  readily  be  seen  that 
it  will  oidy  be  necessary  to  so  construct  the  type-setting  mech- 
anism that  the  types  as  they  are  ejected  from  their  reservoirs  will 
all  pass  to  the  line  in  the  "  stick  "  in  exactly  the  same  measure  of 
time,  and  then  to  secure  545  revolutions  of  the  operating  shaft 
per. minute. 

^lany  of  those  who  have  observed  a  power-press  in  a  news- 
paper establishment,  printing  paper  on  both  sides  and  cutting, 
folding  and  delivering  the  sheets  at  the  rate  of  36,000  per  hour — 
ten  a  second,  or  600  a  minute— must  have  been  impressed  by  the 
thought  that  the  attainment  of  a  corresponding  speed  in  tyi)e- 
setting  is  only  a  question  of  mechanical  ingenuit}'. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted  that  type-setting  ma- 
chinery is  of  such  a  character  that  it  must  of  necessity'  be  very 
much  more  efHcient  wdien  driven  with  the  absolute  regularity, 
evenness   and    precision    of   autonuitic  ])ower,   than    when   it    is 


16 

operated  by  hand-movements,  whicli  naturally  are  always 
lacking  in  these  particulars,  and  especially  so  when  they  are 
made  with  extreme  rapidity.  Almost  all  of  the  clogging  of  types 
and  the  consequent  vexatious  delays  in  the  operation  of  hand 
t}' pe-setting  machines,  result  from  the  striking  of  two  keys  simul- 
taneously— a  thing  that  cannot  possibly  occur  in  the  Munson 
machine. 

A  compositoi"  working  with  an  ordinary  keyboard  type-setting 
machine  loses  time  in  looking  at  and  deciphering  his  "  copy," 
in  spelling  difficult  or  ambiguous  words,  in  punctuating  correctly, 
in  efforts  to  strike  the  right  keys,  in  looking  to  see  if  the  types 
are  being  set  properly,  etc.,  etc. ;  and  it  will  frequently  happen 
that  there  is  a  loss  of  from  one  to  two  seconds  when  no  assignable 
reason  can  be  given  for  it.  This  occurs  with  every  machine,  and 
with  every  operator — with  the  type-writer  as  well  as  with  all 
type-setting  machines. 

Then  again,  the  operator  of  a  ke3'board  machine  will  strike 
two  or  more  keys  so  nearly  simultaneously  that  one  of  two  things 
will  happen  ;  either  a  letter  will  get  into  line  ahead  of  one  that  it 
should  follow,  or  the  two  letters  will  wedge  together  and  clog  the 
machine,  causing  thereby  serious  delay. 

But  if,  as  is  the  case  with  the  Munson  machine,  the  type- 
pushers  can  be  operated  with  regulai-ity,  with  a  rhythm  siniilar  to 
that  found  in  music — three,  four,  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine, 
ten  in  a  second — then  the  number  of  types  that  can  be  set  in  a 
given  time  will  be  vei'y  much  greater  than  can  possibly  be  set 
by  the  most  expert  operator  on  any  keyboard  machine. 

If  three  letters  are  set  every  second,  it  is  equivalent  to  nearly 
five  thousand  ems  an  hour  (this  being  the  extreme  practical  limit 
of  the  most  expert  hand-machine  composition) ;  four  letters  a 
second  will  give  six  and  two-thirds  thousand  eras  an  hour ;  live 
letters  a  second  will  amount  to  over  eight  thousand  ems  an  hour ; 
seven  letters  a  second,  to  eleven  and  a  half  thousand  ems  an  hour  ; 
eight  lettei's  a  second,  to  over  thirteen  thousand  ems  an  hour  ; 
nine  letters  a  second,  to  neai'ly  fifteen  thousand  ems  an  hour  ; 
while  te)i  letters  a  second  (being  exactly  the  s])eed  of  the  printing- 
press  already  mentioned)  would  foot  up  sixteen  and  a  half  thousand 
ems  an  hour. 


COST  OF  C()M]H)SIT10N   V>Y  THE  MUNSON   METHOD. 

The  followiiii>  is  a  conservative  statement  of  tlie  entire  cost 
of  composition  l)y  tlie  Munson  Po^ver  Type-Composing  Machines, 
inchisive.  from  tlie  perforation  of  tlie  ribbon  to,  iirst,  tlie  placing 
of  a  cohmin  of  justified  and  corrected  type  on  the  galley,  ready 
for  use  in  printing,  and,  finally,  to  the  distribution  of  the 
same  type  back  into  their  proper  reservoirs,  ready  to  be  reset. 
This  statement  is  the  i-esult  of  estimates  very  carefully  made, 
after  consultations  with  i)ractical  printers  who  have  had  long 
experience  with  hand  or  keyboard  ^type-setting  machines  and 
automatic  distributors,  and  obtaining  from  them  full  and  trust- 
worthy data  upon  which  to  base  the  calculations. 

Cost  pkr  1,000  Ems. 

Item  1.  Cost  of  perforating  the  ribl)on $0  0(5 

"  2.          ''      setting  the  tyj)e  automatically 0  01 

"  8.         "      correcting  in  the  metal 0  0] 

"  4.          "      (lisfi'i])uting  the  type  automatically 0  01 

Total  cost  per  1,000  ems   $0  09 


Details  ok  tuk  Calculations. 

These  are  not  fancifnl  or  exaggerated  figures,  nor  are  the 
amounts  loosely  stated.  Neither  does  the  element  of  "  cheap 
labor"  enter  into  the  reckoning,  for  each  of  the  operatives  is 
sup})osed  to  be  paid  ^18  a  week  wages.  But,  in  order  that  any 
one  may  follow  and  test  the  accuracy  or  reasonableness  of  the 
calculations,  their  details  are  here  given. 

The  amount  of  Item  1  (six  cents)  is  based  upon  the  following 
premises  : 

1.  That  the  '*•  Compositor's  Machine  "  for  perforating  the 
ril)bon  may  be  operated  as  fast  at  least  as  a  type-writer.  This 
has  l)eeu  demonstrated  to  be  trne  with  the  machine  already 
made. 

2.  That  the  average  speed  of  type-writing,  the  ^)perator 
working  with  ''  eo]n',"  and  not  from  dictation,  is  about  twenty 
folios  or  two  tliousand  words  per  lioui-. 


18 

3.  That  a  ^Yorking  week  consists  of  tift^^-iiiiie  hours. 

4.  That  there  is  an  average  of  380  u'ords  to  a  thousand  ems. 
(Lynch's  "  Printer's  Manual,"  p.  63.) 

Summary — 2,000x59  =  118,000  (number  of  words  perforated 
in  the  ribbon  in  a  week  by  one  operator).  118,000-^380  =  310 
(number  of  thousand  ems  perforated  in  a  week  by  one  operator). 
$18.00^ 310  =  $0.058  (or,  in  round  numbers,  six  cents  per  thou- 
sand ems). 

The  amount  of  Item  2  (one  cent)  is  based  upon  the  fact  that 
three  power  type-setting  machines  will  set,  at  least,  eighteen 
hundred  thousand  ems  in  a  week,  and  the  reasonable  certainty 
that  one  attendant  will  be  able  to  take  entire  charge  of  the 
three.  Now,  $18.00^1,800  (thousand  ems)  =  $0.01  (cost  per 
thousand  ems). 

The  amount  of  Item  3  (one  cent)  is  based  upon  the  result  of 
the  experience  of  practical  printers  in  the  use  of  hand  type- 
setting machines;  also  upon  the  fact  that  in  newspaper  offices, 
where  ordinary  hand-composition  is  used,  that  is  the  allowed 
cost  of  such  work. 

The  amount  of  Item  4  (one  cent)  is  based  upon  the  facts  that 
four  power  type-distributors  will  (listril)utc,  at  least,  eighteen 
hundred  thousand  ems  in  a  week,  and  that  one  attendant  will  be 
able  to  take  entire  charge  of  the  four.  Again,  $18.00-r  1,800 
(thousand  ems)  =  $0.01  (cost  ])er  thousand  ems). 

The  estimate  of  number  of  words  per  1,000  ems  that  is 
adopted  in  New  York  newspaper  offices  is  very  much  less  than 
the  number  (380)  on  wdiieli  these  calculations  are  founded  ;  it  being 
338  words  per  1,000  ems  in  minion,  and  only  300  words  in 
either  nonpareil  or  agate.  Calculations  based  on  these  latter 
figures  will  illustrate  the  greater  economy  of  the  power  method 
of  type-setting,  inasmuch  as  the  nine  cents,  mentioned  in  the 
foregoing  estimate  as  the  total  cost  of  composition  per  1,000  ems, 
will  be  reduced  to  less  than  eight  cents, 

INCUEASED  AMOUNT  OF  WOUK  TO  liE  DONE. 

In  connection  with  this  (juestion  of  economy  should  be  con- 
sidered the  effect  of  the  n(!W  method  in  increasing  the  volume 
of  work.     This  inci-case  will  be  the  natural  result  of  the  reduced 


19 

cost  of  coinj)ositioii.  A  vast  number  of  private  j)apers  that  Jiow 
are  pix'pared  titlicr  in  ordinary  iiianiisoript  or  in  typewritini^, 
will  he  put  in  type  and  printed,  when  the  additional  cost  of  80 
doiny-  is  but  tritlin^. 

A<i,'ain,  the  new  method  will  not  only  produce  the  natural  in- 
crease of  work  resultinii'  from  economy  of  ])roduction,  but  there 
will  follow  remai'kable  pi'oiircss  lii-owinii' out  of  the  radical  clian<re 
in  the  iiia)))ier  of  doin<;-  work.  The  fact  should  be  recalled  that 
the  entire  oi)eration  of  prepai'ini>-  the  ])ei'forated  ribbon  may  be 
performed  in  one  j)lace.  the  ribbon  afterwards  being  transmitted 
to  another  phice,  there  to  be  used  in  operating  the  type-setting 
machine.  Every  act,  therefore,  connected  with  type  composi- 
tion, except  the  mere  autonuitic  setthig  of  the  pieces  of  metal, 
may  be  performed  in  any  convenient  place. 

One  of  the  hirgest  and  most  important  fields  of  usefulness 
that  will,  in  time,  be  thrown  opeu  to  the  new  invention,  is  the 
])utting  in  type  of  pubhc  records,  such  as  deeds,  mortgages,  wills, 
etc. ;  the  cost  being  no  more,  and  probably  less,  than  the  present 
expense  of  engrossing  them  in  lil)ers.  The  great  importance  to 
tlie  public  of  having  such  records  printed,  so  that  duplicate 
copies  may  at  all  times  be  in  existence,  was  strikingly  exemplified 
by  the  total  destruction  of  the  records  in  Chicago,  at  the  time  of 
its  great  fire,  by  which  catastrophe  the  titles  to  much  of  the  real 
property  of  the  city  were  seriously  imperiled.  A  like  calamity 
is  liable  to  overtake  any  of  our  cities  at  any  time. 

The  printing  of  ])ul)lic  records,  however,  never  can  become 
economically  practicable,  with  the  ordinary  method  of  setting 
type,  no  matter  how  cheap  the  work  may  be  done,  because,  on 
the  one  hand,  it  would  not  be  proper  for  the  official  in  charge  of 
the  records  to  allow  original  pa])ers  to  go  out  of  his  possession  to 
a  printing  office,  and,  on  the  other,  the  making  of  extra  copies 
for  the  use  of  the  printer  would  cost  almost  as  much  as  it  would 
to  engross  them  directly  into  the  books  of  the  office.  With  the 
new  method  the  operating  ribbon  may  be  prepared  on  the  com- 
positor's machine,  in  the  office  of  the  custodian  of  the  records, 
directly  from  the  originals,  without  soiling  or  injuring  or  in  any 
way  endangering  their  safety.  All  subsecjuent  nuichine  work 
would,  of  course,  be  done  at  the  office  of  a  printer. 


20 

REPROUUOINU-  THE    RIBBON    BY    TELEGRAPH. 

It  is  also  ])ro])Ose(l  to  connect  the  working  of  the  power 
type-setting  machine  with  the  electric  telegra])h,  in  the  following 
manner  : 

The  ribbon,  after  it  has  been  prepared  on  the  ''Compositor's 
Machine,"  may  be  reproduced  by  telegraph  at  or  from  a  distant 
point.  For  instance,  a  ribbon  prepared  by  a  compositor  in 
AVashington  might  be  reproduced  or  repeated  by  telegraph,  in 
exact /f/c  simile,  in  every  newspaper  office  in  New  York  City, 
for  immediate  use  in  operating  power  type-setting  machines 
located  in  those  offices.  In  such  case  there  would,  of  course,  be 
required  but  one  composition  of  the  matter  and  one  operation  of 
telegrai)hing  for  all  the  newspapers  included  in  the  circuit. 

When,  however,  the  ribbon  is  used  in  this  way,  namely,  in 
operating  a  telegraphic  instrument  to  reproduce  the  ribbon  at  one 
or  more  distant  points,  then,  in  order  that  entire  freedom-  from 
errors  in  the  subsecpient  printing  may  be  attained,  it  will  be 
necessary,  ])efore  telegraphing,  to  have  the  perforations  in  the 
ribbon  read  with  the  *"  copy,"  and  all  corrections  of  errors  dis- 
covered by  such  reading  inserted  in  the  ribbon ;  because  the 
type  to  be  afterwards  set  by  the  fac  simile  ribbon  and  the  orig- 
inal "  copy  "  will  be  so  far  distant  from  each  other  that  it  will 
not  be  feasible  to  compare  a  "  proof "  pulled  from  the  types 
after  they  are  set  with  such  "  copy,"  for  the  ])urpose  of  making 
corrections  on  the  galley.  For  this  reason  some,  if  not  all,  of  the 
operatives  who  engage  in  preparing  ribbon  for  the  telegraph 
must  be  able  to  read  the  perforated  ribbon  with  facility. 

The  value  of  such  an  achievement  as  this,  namely,  the  repro- 
duction of  the  operating  ribbon  by  telegra])h  at  any  desired 
number  of  places,  to  companies  engaged  in  the  gathering  and 
distrilmtion  of  press  news,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  "  Associated 
Press,"  would  obviously  be  very  great,  as  it  would  enable  them, 
with  but  a  single  complete  com])Osition  of  matter  on  one  ribbon 
of  j)aper,  to  simultaneously  sup})ly  all  their  patrons  or  customers 
with  ])crf()ratcd  and  correcled  ribbons,  ready  foi'  innnediate  use 
in  •)i>erating  tlicii-  (»wn  type-setting  machines. 


21 

Illustration  : — Tlie  President  at  Wasliiiiiz^toii  iiiii:,lit  have  liis 
inaugural  address  eoinjxwed  and  eorreeted  cm  a  siii<^le  ril)boii  of 
j)aj)er,  and  that  ribbon  eould  be  then  used  to  operate  a  telejjjraphic 
instrument  located  in  that  city,  thereby  causinu'  an  exact  dupli- 
cate of  the  ribbon  to  be  made  in  every  newspaper  otKce  witliin 
telegraphic  reach,  i-eady  for  innnediate  use  in  i)ower  type-setting 
macliines,  without  fui'ther  labor  or  expense  of  comj)osition. 

AIMMJCATION  OF  METHOD  TO  NEWSPAPER  WORK. 

The  method  of  power  type-setting  is  peculiarly  well  adapted 
to  newspaper  work,  as  is  evident  from  the  following  facts : 

With  the  exception  of  the  corrections  of  proofs,  which  are 
made  as  in  hand-composition  in  the  metal,  the  entire  work  of 
tyi)e-com])osition  is  done  on  a  small  perforating  machine  which 
is  operate<l  with  the  fingers  by  means  of  keys,  one  for  each 
denomination  of  type,  placed  in  a  proi)erly  arranged  keyboard. 

This  machine  resend)les  (piite  closely  in  its  mode  of  oi)eration, 
and  also  somewhat  in  its  general  appearance,  an  ordinary  type- 
writer; but  the  results  produced  by  it  are  simply  perforations  in 
a  ribbon  of  paper.  This  perforating  apparatus,  appro})riately 
called  the  "Compositor's  Machine,"  is  quite  inexpensive,  costing 
to  build  even  less  than  a  type-writer. 

Then,  again,  as  its  keys  are  interchangeahle,  that  is,  so  made 
that  they  may  be  arranged  in  any  desired  order,  a  skilled  operator 
of  any  one  of  the  type-writers  now  in  use  may  transpose  the 
keyboard  to  suit  himself  and  work  upon- it  without  pi'eliminary 
practice. 

The  ribbon  is  perforated  exactly  the  same  for  all  sizes  of 
type  ;  therefore,  only  one  style  of  compositor's  machine  is  re- 
(piired  for  the  composition  of  all  kinds  of  matter — editorials,  news 
or  tinancial  reports,  advertisements  or  what  not. 

"  Matter  "  that  has  been  composed  on  the  conijjositor's  machine 
is  then  in  the  form  of  rolls  of  perforated  ribbon,  which  are  about 
an  inch  in  thickness  and  of  convenient  diameter. 

A  thousand  ems  of  type  of  any  size  will  re<piire  about  eighteen 
feet  of  })erforated  ribbon ;  and  a  roll  of  such  ril)bon  five  inches  in 
diameter  will  contain  the  equivalent  of  thirty  thousand  ems  of 
type. 


22 

Altliouii;h  the  perforations  in  the  ribl)on  are  perfectly  legible, 
aud  may  be  learned  in  a  short  time,  it  is  not  requisite  that  any  of 
the  workmen,  including  ev^en  the  operators  of  the  compositor's 
machines,  shall  be  able  to  read  them.  In  fact,  the  ribbon  with 
its  perforations  is  siiu])ly  a  part  of  the  type-setting  mechanism. 

The  t^'pe-setting  machine  jirojier  has  no  keyboard,  but  is 
operated  by  means  of  this  pi-epared  ribbon,  which  is  rifn  through 
the  machine,  causing  it  to  set  exactly  the  types  that  have  been 
indicated  in  perforations  on  the  ribbon. 

The  selecting  mechanism  whose  action  is  controlled  by  the 
perforations  in  the  ribbon  is  exceedingly  simple,  very  durable, 
and  works  with  great  rapidity  and  with  absolute  infallibility. 
Whatever  keys  are  struck  by  the  compositor  on  his  machine 
while  preparing  the  ribbon  are  sure  to  be  correctly  represented 
and  in  proper  order  in  the  types  when  set. 

After  the  types  have  been  used,  the  distributing  machine 
automati(;al]y  replaces  them  in  their  reservoirs  ready  for  inunedi- 
ate  use  again  in  the  type-setting  machine. 

One  of  the  most  marked  peculiarities  of  the  new  method  is  the 
complete  separation  that  it  permits,  and  will  naturally  bring 
about,  between  the  location  of  the  compositors  with  their  perforat- 
ing machines  and  the  location  of  the  type-rooms  and  the  setting 
and  distributing  nuichines.  Compositors  will  have  no  more  to  do 
with  the  actual  setting  and  distributing  of  the  type  than  hand- 
conn)ositors  now  have  to  do  with  the  press-work.  They  will  oc- 
cupy a  room  by  themselves,  and  they  need  not  know  anything 
about  type-setting  or  about  the  working  of  any  of  the  machines 
exce])t  their  own  keyboard  perforators. 

Indeed,  the  manual  work  of  type  composition,  aside  from  the 
correction  of  ])roofs,  will  be  almost  exactly  like  type-writing  the 
"  copy  "  of  a  newspaper,  and  the  cost  of  the  work  will  be  just 
about  the  same. 

As  a  good  o})ei'ator  on  a  compositor's  machine  will  in  a  given 
period  compose  five  or  six  times  as  much  matter  as  a  good  hand- 
compositor,  it  is  evident  that  whatever  may  ])e  the  rush,  there 
can  never  be  any  necessity  for  dividing  "  coi)y "  into  very 
small  "takes,"  so  that  divisions  on  '•paragraphs"  will  always  be 
j)ossible,  and  the  o])en  and  irregular  s])aciiig  that  ru>w  so  often 
disligui'es  our  ne\vs])aper  columns  will  disappear. 


'J  3 

And  i'i<i^ht  licrc  the  fact  should  be  ivcallod  tdiiiiiid  that  a  l<ey. 
board  coiiijiositor  will  do  much  more  work,  and  do  it  with  •greater 
accuracy,  sim]>ly  because  he  does  not  liave  to  give  attention  to  the 
type-setting  ;  wiiile  tlie  output  of  a  properly  constructed  type- 
setting machine  will  be  from  three  to  live  times  as  much,  because 
it  is  not  ]iandicapi)ed  by  the  keyboard  compositor. 

The  method  is  particularly  adapted  to  any  kind  of  plain 
composition,  that  is,  work  which  does  not  call  for  a  variety  of 
sizes  of  type.  It  would  be  i)erfectly  feasible  to  include  italics 
and  small  capitals  in  the  font  of  the  machine,  but  the  limited  use 
made  of  them  hardly  warrants  the  additional  expense  that  would 
be  necessary  in  (u-der  to  acconmiodate  them  there.  Whenever 
it  is  desirable  to  om])loy  them  it  may  done  in  another  way. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  kinds  of  newspa])er  work  for 
which  the  method  is  well  ada])ted  :  Editorials,  general  news, 
financial  and  commercial  news,  tables  containing  columns  of 
tigures,  s])orting  news,  marine  intelligence,  marriages  and  deaths, 
market  reports  of  all  kinds,  weather  rej)orts  and  tables,  poetry, 
plain  advertisements,  etc. 

AVhen  two-line  letters  are  used  at  the  beginning  of  advertise- 
ments the  composition  is  done  as  shown  in  the  illustrations  below. 
The  ribbon  is  so  prepared  that  it  causes  the  type-setting  machine 
to  set  four  ordinary  capitals  of  like  denomination  for  each  two- 
line  letter,  two  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  line  and  two  at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  line  (see  No.  1).  Afterwards,  and  before 
the  type  is  used,  the  four  ordinary  capitals  in  both  lines  are 
removed  by  hand  and  the  single  two-line  letter  inserted  in  their 
])laccs  (see  No.  2).  Then,  before  the  "  dead  ""  matter  is  given  to 
the  automatic  distributor,  the  two-line  letter  is  removed  and  the 
four  ordinary  cajiitals  restored  to  theii"  original  ]ilaces  (see  No.  3). 
If  there  are  two  or  more  two-line  letters  or  figures  in  an  adver- 
tisement, the  same  course  is  pui-sued  as  to  each. 

JN  O.    1.        KK  tii'al  iiiacliiiiist  wants  situation  ;  is  iisiMl  to  repair- 
ing nu(l  setting  tees  ;  is  well  ret-onnuenileil.   Address 


-»-.        ^        TT'NGINEER.—Flrst-Plass,  good  mechanic  and  prac- 
JN  O.   2.       -Tj  tical  machinist  wants  sittiatlon  ;  is  used  to  repair- 
ing and  sotting  tees  ;  is  well  roconinieniled.   Address 


»-r        „  i:i:N(;  I  N  F.KU.— First  class,  good  nicfhanir  and  prac- 

IN  O.    O.         i:i-;  lir:il  luaeliiulst  wants  situation  ;  is  used  to  n-i)alr- 

ing  and  setting  tees:  is  well  reioiuniciidcd.    Address 


24 

If  each  two-line  letter,  figure,  etc.,  is  cast  on  a  body  exactly 
twice  the  width  of  its  corresponding  capital,  figure,  etc.,  of  the 
regular  font,  no  rejustilication  of  the  lines  will  ever  be  re(]uired. 

Less  type  will  be  needed  to  run  a  newspaper  by  the  new 
method  than  is  now  required  ;  because,  if  necessary,  the  matter 
for  an  entire  issue  may  be  composed  on  the  ribbon  before  the 
getting  of  a  single  type.  The  principal  drain  upon  type  with 
all  our  great  daily  newspapers,  outside  of  the  type  that  is  in 
actual,  immediate  use,  is  in  the  overset  matter  of  each  day  ;  in  the 
composition  during  the  week  for  the  coming  Sunday  paper ;  in 
matter  that  is  "killed,"  and  sometimes,  though  not  so  much  as 
fomierly,  in  "  bogus ''  matter.  The  amount  of  type  constantly 
standing  idle  in  a  newspaper  'Dthce  runs  all  the  way  from  150  to 
300  galleys,  according  to  the  size  of  the  paper. 

Although  at  present  it  is  impossible  to  state  with  exactness 
how  many  machines  of  tlie  Munson  method,  and  workmen  to 
operate  them,  will  be  required  to  do  the  type-setting  of  a  news- 
paper, yet,  calculating  from  the  best  data  that  is  now  available,  it 
cannot  be  far  out  of  the  way  to  say  that  the  composition  woi-k  of 
a  daily  news|'aper  of  the  size  and  style  of  the  Neiv  York  Tribune 
could  be  done  with  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  compositor's  machines 
and  a  like  number  of  compositors  to  work  them  ;  from  seven  to 
nine  power  type-setting  machines  and  two  or  three  attendants  to 
look  after  them,  and  from  nine  to  twelve  power  type-distril)utor8 
and  two  or  three  other  workmen  to  attend  to  those  machines. 

The  c<)m])ai'ative  cost  of  tyjie-composition,  as  between  hand- 
setting  and  work  done  by  the  Mnnson  method,  is  shown  by  the 
following  facts :  It  is  estimated  that  seven  daily  iiioniing  news- 
papers in  the  City  of  New  York  conjointly  put  in  type  each 
week  about  20,000,000  ems  of  plain  matter.  The  other  morning 
dailies,  including  those  printed  in  German  and  French,  will  add 
about  (5,000,000  ems  more,  making  a  total  of  2r),(iO0,000  ems. 
If  all  that  matter  were  set  by  hanrl,  the  cost  would  be  in  the 
neighborhood  of  $18,000  a  week.  By  the  Munson  method  of 
power  composition,  the  cost  ))er  week  would  be  a  little  less  than 
$2,a(K». 


25 

lliBBoN  Received  hy  Tp:r.K(iHAi'][. 

When  tlie  ril)bon  is  telegraphed  to  several  newspapers  simnl- 
taneously,  in  tlio  manner  already  descril)ed,  the  expense  of  com- 
posing the  tir.st  ribhon,  for  u^e  in  operating  the  automatic  trans- 
mitter at  the  distant  telegra])h  office,  as  well  as  the  cost  of  the 
actual  telegraphing,  will  he  divided  j''^'^  ''("f"  among  the  news- 
papers. 

The  ribbon  just  as  it  comes  from  the  telegraph  in-trunient  in 
each  of  the  newspaper  offices  may  be  used  without  change  by  all 
the  newsjiapers  in  operating  their  type-setting  machines,  and  the 
nuitter  will  then  ai)pear  exactly  the  same  in  all  the  newspapers, 
even  to  the  hyphens  at  the  ends  of  lines.  But  in  order  to 
avail  themselves  fully  of  this  advantage  the  news[)a[)ers  will  have 
to  act  in  harmony,  and  adopt  a  uniform  width  of  colunni.  It 
will  be  necessary  for  the  compositor  who  prepares  the  ribbon  for 
use  in  telegraphing,  to  divide  it  into  colunm-lines  of  a  standard 
width — probal)ly  2^  inches,  as  that  width  is  more  generally  used 
than  any  other. 

But,  should  a  newspa[)er  prefer  not  to  conform  to  the  stand- 
ard width,  it  may  still  use  the  I'ibbon  to  set  the  type,  and  then 
do  the  justifying  by  hand,  in  the  same  way  it  is  done  now  with 
type  set  by  keyboard  type-setting  machines  ;  the  extra  cost  be- 
ing about  six  cents  per  thousand  ems. 

APPLICATION  OF  METHOD  TO  BOOK  WORK.  . 

One  of  the  principal  benefits  to  be  derived  from  tlie  new 
method  of  type-setting  will  be  the  great  lessening  it  will  cause 
in  the  expense  and  trouble  of  issuing  successive  editions  of  books 
and  other  publications,  for  which  it  is  not  generally  considered 
expedient  to  make  electrotype  or  stereotype  plates  from  which 
to  print  them. 

And  even  as  to  many  works  that  arc  now  printed  from  such 
plates,  unless  it  isanticijjated  that  several  editions  will  be  required, 
it  will  be  found  cheaper  to  employ  the  ribbon  to  set  the  type 
anew  for  each  edition,  than  to  incur  the  expense  of  making 
plates. 

As  nearly  all  the  manual  work  of  the  i)rinter'8  composition  is 


448334 


26 

put  into  the  ribbon,  it  follows  that  after  the  ribbon  has  been  em- 
ployed in  setting  the  type  for  the  lirst  edition,  it  may  be  filed 
away  for  use  in  again  setting  the  type  for  other  editions,  should 
any  be  demanded. 

In  the  meantime,  such  corrections  and  alterations  as  the 
author  may  w^ish  to  make  may  be  composed  and  inserted  in  the 
ribbon  at  their  proper  places. 

But  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  him  to  again  go  over  and 
coi-rect  the  proofs  of  the  entire  work,  no  matter  how  many 
editions  may  be  need'jd  ;  because  the  original  ribbon,  when  once 
it  has  been  properly  prepared,  will  at  all  times,  when  recpiired, 
cause  the  machine  to  set  the  mattei-  correctly  and  in  exactly  the 
same  way  as  before. 

When  it  is  desired  to  issue  a  publication  simultaneously  in 
two  or  more  dift'erent  places,  duplicates  of  the  operating  ribbon 
may  be  prepared  and  forwarded  by  mail,  telegraph,  or  otherwise, 
and  then  used  in  accomplishing  that  purpose,  with  great  advan- 
tage, as  they  would  save  the  publisher  the  trouble  and  expense 
either  of  making  and  transmitting  extra  plates,  or  of  re-setting 
the  type  by  hand  at  all  the  places  of  publication. 

It  Fits  the  New  Copykight  Law  Exactly. 

The  new^  method  of  type-setting  would  also,  so  far  as  type- 
printed  books  are  concerned,  aln'iost  entirely  relieve  our  inter- 
national copyright  law  of  its  greatest  hardshij)  upon  the  foreign 
author,  namely,  the  requirement  that  the  two  copies  of  his  book 
to  be  delivered  or  mailed  to  the  Librarian  of  Congress  not  later 
than  the  day  of  publication,  in  order  to  secure  the  benefits  of 
copyright,  "  shall  be  printed  from  type  set  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States,  or  from  plates  made  therefrom."  The  author  will 
simply  have  two  copies  of  the  perforated  ribbon  of  his  book  pre- 
pared simultaneously  on  compositor's  machines  in  his  own 
country,  then  retain  one  for  his  home  edition,  and  send  the  other 
here  to  he  used  in  setting  the  type  of  the  American  edition. 
While  this  arrangement  will  satisfy  the  demand  of  the  law  that 
the  type  be  set  in  the  llnited  States,  it  will  also  relieve  the 
author  from  the  expense  of  having  the  same  matter  composed 
twice,  and  at  the  same  time  give  him  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 


27 

that  liis  hook  will  be  put  in  type  exactly  cis  he  wantfi  it  done, 
even  to  the  retaining  of  liis  i)ecnliaritie.s  of  orthography.  Sucli 
duplicate  })erforated  rihbons  may  be  made  with  tlie  labor  of  but 
a  single  composition,  by  sim[)ly  running  two  thicknesses  of  the 
ril)bon  through  tlie  compositor's  macliinc  and  perforating  both  at 
the  same  time. 

APPLICATION  TO  STENOGRAPHERS'  WORK. 

The  Munson  method  of  power  type-setting  has  important 
advantages  for  law  stenographers,  in  the  preparation  of  tran- 
scripts of  short-hand  minutes,  which  are  not  offered  by  any  other 
method  of  machine  composition.  At  present  stenographers 
generally  do  this  work  on  type-writers,  and  when  extra  copies 
are  required  they  are  made  by  manifolding  with  carbon  sheets. 
Duplicate  transcripts  made  in  this  way,  however,  are  not  even  in 
quality.  No  matter  how  good  the  ribbon  copy  may  be,  the  car- 
bon copies  decrease  in  excellence  according  to  the  number  made, 
the  ([uality  and  thickness  of  tl.>e  ])aper  used  and  the  skill  of  the 
operator.  And  yet,  while  type-written  work  of  this  kind  is  not 
perfect,  it  is  a  great  improvement  upon  the  old  manuscript  and 
press-copy  work  of  former  years. 

The  great  desideratum  now  is  some  means  by  which  steno- 
graphers can  economically  and  with  the  necessary  speed  furnish 
transcri[)ts  in  ordinary  print.  Up  to  the  present  time,  however, 
no  satisfactory  way  of  doing  this  has  been  afforded.  When  the 
trial  of  a  case  extends  beyond  a  single  day,  it  is  sometime  neces- 
sary that  transcripts  of  the  minutes  of  each  day's  proceedings 
shall  be  prepared  at  night  and  furnished  to  counsel  on  the  follow- 
ing morning  at  or  before  the  opening  of  court ;  in  order  to  do  which 
the  stenographer  recpiires  the  aid  of  several  type- writers  and  opera- 
tors. An  expert  oi)erator  of  a  type-writer  will  perform  twice 
the  amount  of  work  in  a  day  that  the  most  rapid  long-hand  pen- 
man can  do.  Now,  no  keyboard  composing  nuichine  has  yet 
been  made  that  can  equal  the  type-writer  in  speed.  Therefore, 
when  we  consider  that  every  such  composing  machine  costs  $2,000 
or  more ;  that  it  will  take  a  greater  num1)er  of  such  machines  as 
well  as  operators  than  it  will  of  type-writers  and  o})erators  to  make 
the  transcript  of  a  given  amount  of  stenographic  reporting  ;  that  it 
is  not  practicable  to  move  those  machines  about  from  one  place  to 


B.  0.  ^kKm 

LAWYFR 
DALLAS.  TEXAS  28 

another  as  type-writers  can  be  moved,  and  that  they  must  always 
be  driven  by  steam  or  other  considerable  power,  it  is  qnite  obvi- 
ous that  no  hand-operated  composing  macliine  can  ever  supphant 
the  type-writer  in  connection  with  stenographic  work. 

But  tlie  Munson  method  of  type-composition — wjtli  its  small, 
portable  and  inexpensive  compositor's  machine  with  which  to 
prepare  the  perforated  ribbon  for  the  transcript,  and  its  rapid 
power  type-setting  machine  to  set  the  type  for  the  same — meets 
the  requirements  of  the  case  in  every  respect.  The  stenographer 
will  prepare  his  record  in  perforated  ribbon,  requiring  only  the 
same  number  of  compositor's  machines  and  operators  that  he 
would  of  type-writers  and  operators  for  the  same  amount  of 
work.  He  will  prepare  the  ribbon  on  the  compositor's  machines 
in  the  same  manner  that  he  now  makes  transcripts  on  type-writ- 
ers, at  any  place  that  suits  his  convenience— at  his  home,  his 
office  or  elsewhere.  He  will  then  send  the  ribbon  to  a  printing- 
office  to  be  used  there  in  operating  a  type-setting  machine  and 
putting  the  matter  in  type  without  his  further  presence.  The 
"  proofs  "  may  be  read  and  corrected  at  an}"  time  afterwards. 

UNITED  STATES  AND  FOREIGN  PATENTS. 

The  Munson  Method  of  Power  Type  Composition  is  i)rotected 
by  patents,  both  in  this  country  and  in  several  foreign  countries. 
Upon  an  examination  of  the  patents  it  will  be  found  that  they  are 
unusually  good  ones.  As  Mr.  Munson  is  the  only  inventor  who 
has  ever  really  accomplished  anything  of  consequence  in  this  par- 
ticular field  of  automatic  devices,  there  has  been  no  one  to  inter- 
fere or  clash  with  his  work,  and  the  result  is  that  the  claims  that 
have  been  allowed  him  by  the  Patent  Office  are  most  of  them 
very  broad  ones.  For  this  reason  he  is  relieved  from  apprehension 
of  trouble  from  rival  claimants,  because  there  are  none. 

Other  patents,  for  important  Improvements  that  have  recently 
been  made  in  the  method  and  its  machines,  are  about  to  be  taken 
out. 

For  further  infonnation  concerning  the  Munson  Method  of 
Power  Type-C()m]>ositi()n,  address 

JAMES  E.  MUNSON, 

Tribune  Building,  New  York. 


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